


Shattered

by BurningLio



Series: The Colony [10]
Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Lio Fotia Whump, M/M, Slavery, Suicide Attempt, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:49:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23601832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningLio/pseuds/BurningLio
Summary: Kray uses Lio as leverage against the chief instigators of unrest in the Burnish compound, and Lio starts to realize that perfect obedience might not be enough to keep the people he cares about safe.
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare), Kray Foresight/Lio Fotia
Series: The Colony [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659124
Comments: 59
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

Lio is given no warning that this visit to the Burnish compound will be any different. His master seems slightly preoccupied, but then he often is, and it often has nothing to do with Lio; Biar joins them, but then she is often at Kray’s side, and she and Lio have grown used to mutually ignoring one another. The only real hint that something is wrong comes when they reach the compound, and Vulcan Haestus meets them at the gate. Even now Lio can’t help tensing when he sees him, which is fortunately rare. He spares a glance for Lio, sneers, then looks back at Kray and is all business.

“Everything’s under control, Governor,” he says, throwing a quick salute.

“Is it?” Kray asks him, quietly sarcastic. “Your men left everyone in one piece and didn’t get carried away?”

“Yes, sir,” says Vulcan, although Kray’s needling wipes the smug smile off his face. “The ringleaders are being interrogated now.” Lio stiffens, almost forgets himself and looks up at the two men, but manages to keep his gaze properly downcast despite how he’s shaking. _What’s going on?_ The Burnish aren’t supposed to be harmed, that was the deal, but if someone’s made an escape attempt or attacked one of the guards…

Kray tugs on the leash, pulls Lio to his side and rests a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Well, let’s see what we can get out of them with a little _leverage._ ”

The first thing Lio notices when they enter the compound is the number of guards. Usually there’s only a scattered few within the compound itself, the rest armed and watchful atop the walls. But now there’s a dozen of them forming a perimeter in the open, packed-earth space in the middle of the compound, keeping the Burnish back, though no one seems likely to try them. And beyond them—

Lio lets out a hitched gasp without meaning to, feeling like the breath has been knocked out of him. _Gueira and Meis. They’re alive. They’re really alive._ He’s never once seen either of them on his visits to the compound, and after a while stopped stealing glances at the other Burnish, trying in vain to seek out their faces. He’s been all but certain they were dead. But they’re here, they’ve been here this whole time, and Lio finds it suddenly difficult to keep his composure. He can’t make a noise, can’t make a scene, shouldn’t even be _looking_ at them and yet— he clenches his fists behind his back, digging his nails into his palms, struggling to keep silent, keep his posture correct and submissive.

Both of his generals are on their knees, guarded with rifles pointed at their heads. Meis has his arms tied behind his back, while Gueira’s right arm is tied to his side - Lio’s stomach lurches when he sees that Gueira’s left arm is gone, no doubt turned to ash in the engine. Both of them look bruised and beaten, their jumpsuits torn. Meis holds himself carefully upright, breathing gingerly in a way that suggests broken ribs to Lio; Gueira’s face is streaked with blood from a cut above his hairline, and he’s coughing intermittently, a harsh, hacking sound that makes Lio’s heart twist when he hears it. They’re focused entirely on Vulcan at first, tense and bristling with hostility, but then it’s Gueira whose gaze slips past him, registering Kray and then—

“Boss!” Gueira’s voice is tight with pain, but he starts struggling immediately, and the guard behind him slams the butt of his rifle into his skull. Gueira cries out, curling forward.

“Quiet,” snaps the guard. Meis’s eyes are on Lio now too, wide and horrified. He’s testing his bonds too, shifting back and forth, trying to do it without attracting attention.

Lio’s not supposed to speak without first being spoken to, he knows that, but he can’t stay silent. “Master,” he says, his voice tight and shaky with distress. “Please… what…”

Kray hooks a finger under his chin and lifts his head, looking down into his face. His expression is cold, closed off, and Lio feels a cold dread wash over him. “Your friends have been quite difficult as of late,” he says softly. “If they keep on like this, I am afraid I will need to take extreme measures.”

Lio shakes his head wordlessly, eyes wide. They were supposed to stay alive, that was the deal, and he’s done everything Kray asked of him and more— he’s desperate to say so, to remind his master of their agreement, but he’s terrified that speaking out of turn will only make things worse. So instead he drops to his knees directly in front of Kray, craning his neck to look up at him with beseeching eyes, and tentatively puts his hand between Kray’s legs, the other starting to reach for the button of his pants. It’s not a situation where Kray would normally ask Lio to service him, but he doesn’t know how else to convey his submission, his willingness to do whatever it takes to preserve Meis and Gueira’s lives. Frowning, Kray grabs Lio’s reaching hand, engulfing it in his own, and on impulse Lio leans in to lick the back of his hand. He hears his master let out a low chuckle.

“I know. You’ve been good. But this isn’t about you, pet.” He pulls Lio’s hands away and drags him to his feet, and Lio stumbles against him, flushed and ashamed and looking anywhere but where his closest friends are bound a few feet away. This isn’t how he wanted to find out they were still alive. He doesn’t want them to see what he’s become. “I simply need to impress upon your companions the seriousness of what they’ve done. And take steps to ensure it never happens again.”

“He had nothing to do with this!” Lio hears Meis’s voice behind him, shaking with anger. “So get your filthy hands off him, or—!”

Kray takes Lio’s shoulders and turns him around, forcing him to face Meis and Gueira as he stands in front of his master. Lio swallows hard, staring at the ground and trying not to meet their eyes. “Tell them what you are,” Kray says softly, his voice cold as ice.

“I- I belong to Master- to Kray Foresight,” Lio stammers, still unable to look directly at Meis or Gueira. He’d rather be anywhere else, _doing_ anything else, than telling them this. He’d taken comfort, when he’d started accepting their deaths, from the fact that at least they would never have to see what Kray had made of him. Facing them like this, knowing their lives may well be contingent on his following his training, is like something out of a nightmare. “I’m nothing, this is my purpose now, and I… I-” His breathing is hitched and uneven, and his eyes are wet. “Please. _Please_ just do what Master says, just cooperate, I can’t watch the two of you die like this!” He can’t restrain the outburst, even though he knows he shouldn’t say it. But his master clearly expects him to have some kind of effect on whatever rebellion Gueira and Meis have been waging, has insinuated that this may be their last chance to be spared, and Lio can’t remain silent. He closes his eyes tightly, waiting for whatever punishment is going to fall on his shoulders for his disobedience.

Gueira is shouting, which Lio registers as if it’s happening somewhere very far away - “What the fuck did you do to him, Foresight?!” The sound of another blow, a cry of pain, more hacking coughs and Meis desperately crying out Gueira’s name - Lio shudders, trying not to cry, remaining as still and quiet as he can.

“You should listen to him, Burnish,” Kray says, terribly calm. Lio dares to open his eyes and looks back up at him, terrified. “Since apparently, the two of you refuse to see reason. You are valuable assets to this colony, and I don’t want to kill you. But this little uprising ends here. I am sure you’ve already been told that your weapons stockpile was discovered. At this point, all you will succeed in doing is getting yourselves killed.” His hands tighten on Lio’s shoulders, the pressure almost painful. “So tell me who your allies are. How were you coordinating your planned attack on Oversight?”

“Fuck you,” Gueira spits. “Beat us to a pulp again, I don’t care. ‘S nothing we haven’t gotten from your goons before.”

“I’m not going to punish you,” Kray says. “Not this time.” He pushes down on Lio’s shoulders, forcing him to his knees again. “Lio here will accept any punishment from my hand, after all.”

Lio looks up at him, feeling another strange surge of hope. If Kray will allow him to take the punishment for Meis and Gueira - that’s what he’s here for. A sacrifice. “Please, Master…” he whispers.

Kray runs his fingers through Lio’s hair, affectionate. “I am truly sorry about this,” he murmurs, and then grabs Lio by the hair and flings him to the ground. Lio gasps as his head strikes the hard, packed dirt, and doesn’t move as Kray kicks him onto his back. He can hear Gueira and Meis yelling, spitting curses at Kray and Vulcan and the entire damn colony, and he wants to tell them to stop but Kray’s boot is digging into his throat, crushing his windpipe and cutting off most of his air. He gasps, instinctively jerking with the urge to struggle and trying to quell it, to lie still. _Let me do this for you. Please._

Something jams into his abdomen and Lio finds himself convulsing, every inch of his body coursing with pain. When it stops he’s quivering and twitching, and realizes it’s one of the shock prods that the Security forces carry with them. Kray’s never hit him with one before. And this is what they’re using to keep the Burnish in line- He isn’t able to finish the thought as it strikes him again, before he’s had a chance to recover from the first blow, and Lio is writhing in the dirt and his own scream rings too loud in his own ears for him to hear anything else.

As the pain subsides, he coughs, realizing he can breathe again, that Kray has stepped back away from him. Someone else is yelling, now, and he can begin to make out the words— “-you bastard, stop it, stop! We’ll answer your questions, all right?! Stop hurting him!”

Lio lies quivering in the dirt, some anxiety he can’t name gripping him as he starts to process the conversation in bits and pieces. There was a plan - they had a plan. They’re giving it up for him. This isn’t right either. He’s supposed to protect them, he doesn’t want this - _he’s_ supposed to be the one who’s given up on freedom, not them, never them.

“We had a communicator, all right? We didn’t know who left it! They didn’t want us to know who they were!” Meis’s voice is a tense snarl, and Lio can hear him breathing hard in pain. “I figured they were pretty high up, with the intel they were getting for us. That’s all we know, I _swear._ Just leave Lio alone. He didn’t know about any of this.”

“Where have you hidden the communicator?”

“Our bunk,” Gueira whispers hoarsely. Defeated. “Under the mattress. Go on, check. You’ll find it.”

A few of the guards head over towards the Burnish sleeping quarters, while Kray crouches down next to Lio and gently helps him sit up. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “But you did well. No one else is going to get hurt, thanks to you.” Lio is still shaking, and he looks up at Kray for a moment before lowering his head again. Kray takes his hand. “Can you stand up?” Lio nods, and lets his master help him to his feet.

“I assume you can take it from here, Colonel,” Kray says in a low voice. “I want those two kept apart from now on.”

“Understood,” Vulcan says, and Lio isn’t looking at him but he can hear the sneer back in his voice. He enjoys having this much power over the Burnish, and he enjoys the fact that Lio can’t do anything about it.

They return to Oversight, and Lio trails along behind Kray on his leash, trying to hide his winces at his still-spasming muscles, determined to walk on his own power. His last glimpse of Meis and Gueira was of the two of them being dragged off to separate holding cells, no longer fighting and shouting but staring after Lio as he was led away. Lio can see their horrified expressions when he closes his eyes, haunting him. They must be so disappointed in him. Ashamed of him. He’s not worthy of leading Mad Burnish anymore, and maybe he never was.

On their way back to the apartment, Kray stops in the upper atrium when he spots the administrator of the Burnish work camp, and the two of them stand with Biar on one of the area’s balconies to have a conversation in low, hurried voices. Lio is certain they’re talking about what just happened, and he can’t bring himself to try and listen, not when he knows there’s nothing he can do to stop whatever will happen next. He leans against the railing and stares down over the edge of the balcony instead, at the indoor park area two stories below with its caged trees and bubbling fountains, though in truth he can barely see it, images from the compound burned into his mind instead.

They saw him, they all saw him for what he is now, the impeccably trained, broken pet of Kray Foresight. Meis and Gueira had a plan, were fighting for their people as he once would have wanted, but they’d given everything up because of him. Because Lio was too much of a coward to do anything but grovel at Kray’s feet and let himself be used as leverage.

He’s not protecting them. They’re trapped, without any hope of a better life, _because of him._

Moving slowly, as if he’s not entirely in control of his own body, Lio finds himself unclipping the leash from the front of his collar, mildly surprised to find he barely feels the expected pang of fear from doing something so expressly forbidden. Carefully, he drapes it over the back of one of the balcony’s chairs so it doesn’t fall to the ground. Then, still with the same dreamlike movements, his mind curiously blank as if his body has arrived at some decision without involving the rest of him, Lio swings one leg over the balcony railing, then the other, perching on top of it.

Behind him, there’s a sudden scream, so loud and urgent that he barely recognizes the voice as Biar’s. _“KRAY!”_

Lio glances over his shoulder, sees Biar pointing towards him, sees Kray turning, his eyes going wide and his face twisting into a look of unmistakable terror. For an instant, their eyes meet, and then Kray lunges forward. _“Lio! No!”_

But Lio’s already let go, tipping forward off the balcony and plummeting down to the area below. He sees the ground rushing up to meet him, and closes his eyes.

There’s an earth-shattering crack, and then nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

_“Call a medical team!”_ Kray bellows at Biar. _“Now!”_ Then races for the maintenance stairs because the public escalator is too far and the elevators would take too long, pounding on the access panel until the system finally registers his ID badge and lets him in. He doesn’t remember ever being this scared in his life, not when his first flare burst out of his body and took his arm with it, not in the moments after Prometh’s death when he’d stared at the gun in his hand and the spreading pool of blood on the floor. It’s sheer panic, overriding everything else in his mind but the need to get to Lio. For a second, as Lio fell over the edge, he had to fight back the impulse to _jump after him,_ reminding himself that without access to the Promare he had no flames to break his fall.

Security has already converged on the place where Lio landed, though they haven’t touched him, positioning themselves mostly to keep any would-be onlookers away. Kray falls heavily to his knees beside him. Lio’s slender body is bent unnaturally, his back clearly broken; his eyes are closed, and he’s not conscious, and Kray can’t tell if he’s breathing. Carefully he bends over him, tilts Lio’s face up as gently as he can, and represses a shudder as he feels broken vertebrae scraping together within Lio’s neck with the movement. He presses his lips to Lio’s, again and again, silently begging the fire to come. He thinks he feels it, finally, weak, flickering embers slipping from his tongue to Lio’s, not nearly enough but so much better than nothing. He doesn’t notice the medical team’s arrival until they pull him away, and he lets them, his eyes glued to Lio’s limp form.

He doesn’t know if it was what he did, but he can see Lio’s chest moving now, just a little. For the first time in his life, Kray is grateful for the Promare.

Omega Centauri does not have a hospital yet, but the Parnassus’ medical bay is still in operation, stocked with state-of-the-art equipment made by the former Foresight Foundation. Kray sees the way the doctor looks at him, the nervous tone in her voice when she asks him to wait outside, clearly unsure how he’ll react to being told to leave his pet in her care. He doesn’t push it, painfully aware of how he must look to the medical staff just now, disheveled and wild-eyed. He doesn’t care as much as he should.

Nearly six hours later Kray finds himself sitting beside Lio’s hospital bed, staring with narrowed eyes at the slight, pale form lying still beneath the sheets next to him. Lio’s still on oxygen, an IV drip in one skinny arm, swathed in bandages and wearing thick, sturdy neck and back braces to stabilize his damaged spine. What the doctor told him about Lio’s injuries keeps turning over in Kray’s mind - a broken spine, a fractured skull, a shattered pelvis, multiple broken ribs. If he wasn’t Burnish, if he didn’t have the ability to regenerate, he would almost certainly be left paralyzed, and that’s if his broken neck didn’t kill him on impact. Kray’s still not sure whether Lio was alive when he got to him, if his intervention pulled Lio back from death or simply bought him a few more precious minutes.

Lio’s attempt on his own life very nearly succeeded. And there’s nothing Kray could have done to stop him.

He’s holding Lio’s hand loosely when there’s a polite knock at the door and it opens, admitting Biar. She looks him over, impassive as ever, though there’s a slight, noticeable frown on her face.

“I see he survived,” she says, nodding toward Lio’s limp body.

“Barely.” Kray runs a hand over his face, back through his hair, aware he probably looks like shit. Biar’s possibly the only person he doesn’t mind seeing him like this. “Thank you for your quick actions. If the medics hadn’t arrived when they did…”

She nods. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice what he was doing sooner. To be honest, I… never expected…”

Kray shakes his head. “Neither did I.” He reaches out to touch Lio’s bandaged arm, lightly stroking his hand. “I suppose I underestimated him yet again.”

She glances at Lio again briefly, then back to Kray. “I’m… sorry to interrupt, but the situation with the workers in Sector 5 requires your attention soon. The sector councilman is getting quite impatient, and you’ve been unavailable most of the day…”

“It’s well past work hours out there, isn’t it? It can wait till tomorrow.”

“Sir…” Biar’s voice has that particular edge to it that means she’s about to tell him something he doesn’t particularly want to hear. Kray forces himself to look away from Lio’s unconscious face and meets her eyes, raising one eyebrow in an unspoken question. “It will take _weeks_ for him to recover.”

“Burnish heal faster than ordinary humans.”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t say _months._ ” Biar’s voice is stern, and she’s staring him down in a way that few people dare to, anymore. “Your pet isn’t important enough to put everything on hold. This colony needs you.”

“I’m allowed a day for a personal emergency, Biar,” Kray snaps, nettled. “You’re acting as if I’ve disappeared for a week.”

“If I didn’t say something, I was worried that you _would._ ” Biar crosses her arms, drums her fingers against her forearm. “This isn’t like you, and you need to snap out of it. Let the doctors handle Fotia. He’s come back from worse.”

Kray is silent for a moment. Technically, she’s right - Lio was clearly dying when he opened up the engine after their voyage, had lost both arms and most of both legs before Kray instinctively, impulsively breathed fire back into his lungs and pulled him back. Just to see what he’d do, he told himself.

And what Lio had done was offer himself up to him.

“Sir?” Her voice is strangely gentle. Kray shakes his head, trying to clear it.

“Sorry. You’re right, of course. But there’s no need to worry. This won’t keep me from my work. I do trust the staff here to keep me informed of any important developments.” Kray takes Lio’s hand in his own again, gently stroking his slender fingers. “I realize it’s late, but… if it’s not too much trouble, could you do one thing for me before you turn in for the night?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Contact Dr. Ardebit and have her pulled off the biosphere work for the time being. She’s the closest thing we have to an expert on Burnish physiology at this point, after all. Just to be safe.”

“Yes, sir.” Biar inclines her head respectfully, then looks at him again, her brow slightly furrowed. “You’re _certain_ you don’t need anything else?”

Kray blinks. He’s really rattled her with his behavior today, he realizes. He truly lost control after Lio fell. Biar can usually see through his fake expressions, but he smiles at her anyway, trying to look reassuring. Normal. “I promise you, I’m fine. I’m going to stay here a little while longer and then I’ll go home and get some rest.” It’s not an especially attractive thought, though he knows he should. He’s been allowing Lio to sleep in his bed more and more, these days. His bed’s going to feel cold and empty without Lio’s warm little body tucked up against his chest.

“Very well.” She pauses. “For what it’s worth…”

“Yes?”

“You know I’ve never understood your attachment to that thing.” There’s no real dislike in her voice, only dismissal. To her, Lio is simply another of Kray’s eccentricities that she’s learned to tolerate. “But for your sake, I’m glad he’s still breathing.”

Kray’s smile this time is a little more genuine, slight and sad around the edges. “Thank you,” he says softly.

There’s no point, of course, to staying in Lio’s room much longer, or at all. He’s out cold, still thoroughly kept under by the drugs that were pumped into his system. But Kray lingers a while, until a nurse comes in to check Lio’s vitals and change out the IV bag, which he takes as his cue to finally leave even though the nurse barely acknowledges his presence. He bends over Lio’s bed and gives him a peck on the lips, and then he leaves.

Lio is _his._ He always will be. No matter what it takes, Kray will never risk losing him again.

\---

Lio knows he’s somehow still alive; being dead couldn’t possibly hurt this much. It always looked peaceful to him, collapsing into ash and drifting away on the wind, and he longs for it more than ever as he drifts through a clouded sea of pain and muted consciousness. There are voices, and sometimes he’s capable of recognizing some of them - Kray, Biar - but none of them are the voices he wants to hear, the ones he’s silently crying out for, though he is not quite sure who those voices are, what they sound like. He registers being touched, sometimes, and he’s never sure if they’re trying to hurt him or not; sometimes it’s gentle, sometimes it sends spikes of pain through his back and his head and he hears himself whimpering faintly, even moaning, as if from a great distance away. He can’t move, or isn’t supposed to, he’s not very sure of which; he responds, once, to the familiar pressure of a hand on his thigh and barely starts to twitch his legs open before the pain seizes him again, stabbing up through his hips and rendering him unable to process anything else. He slips back under after that, and doesn’t know for how long - he never knows how long, rarely even opens his eyes. Time has stopped existing.

Sometimes he has a vague sense that this is just another punishment, and sometimes his head is clear enough for him to remember why he’s here, how badly he’s failed. He weeps, then, not even sure himself whether it’s the memory or the pain that brought the tears. He dreams of Galo, now and then, always just out of reach, just out of earshot. Lio longs to call out to him, but he can’t make a sound.

He was so close to seeing him again.

But even barely lucid, Lio understands that opportunity will not come again. His master will not let him go, not now that they both know that Lio is willing to destroy himself. As he’s weaned off the powerful painkillers in his system, coming back to more and more awareness of the outside world, he realizes his wrists are cuffed to the bed - far more comfortable than the restraints he’s used to, admittedly, soft fabric straps with plenty of slack. But it’s a sign of what awaits him when he wakes. His master is taking no chances.

The first person Lio sees, when he finally returns to full consciousness, is Heris Ardebit. She’s bending over the monitor beside his bed, checking something, and she startles when she sees him move. He looks up at her, briefly meeting her gaze before flicking his eyes back down.

“Lio!” She hurries to his side, bending over him to get a better look. Lio lets her, shifting slightly to let her take his pulse when she reaches for his throat. Her hands are cold and unsteady. “I’m glad you survived… I wondered if…” Heris trails off, uncertain. Lio glances at her, then back down, not quite sure why she’s talking to him. It would be easier if one of the regular doctors were here instead; on the rare occasion that Kray has brought him here for medical treatment, they barely acknowledge him. He’s never sure how to respond when someone who’s not his master starts talking to him directly.

She spoke to him like this before, too. Lio remembers, distantly, the hatred he’d felt at the sight of her, but it’s gone now. Looking at her, he can’t bring himself to feel much of anything. He’s just _tired._

“How are you feeling?” she asks him, and he has to think about that one for a moment. It’s strange to be asked so directly.

“…sore,” he manages finally, his voice hoarse. Heris nods, pursing her lips.

“That’s not surprising. Even for a Burnish, that was a lot to repair. It’s… it’ll be some time before you’re at full strength, but…” 

She keeps trailing off, and Lio glances at her again, trying to read her expression. But Heris winces and turns away, back to the monitor beside Lio’s bed. He sighs, tilting his head back again, staring up at the ceiling without really seeing it. It’s interesting, having a mattress and a pillow and blankets all to himself. They never let him have a bed before, on his previous visits to the medical bay.

“I’m sorry about the restraints.” Heris speaks up again suddenly, still not looking at him. “We… we were afraid you might try to hurt yourself again, so…”

Lio lifts one of his arms as far as he’s able, studying the fabric cuff. He wonders if he _would_ try something again, if he wasn’t restrained, if he was alone. It feels a bit pointless to speculate, after what’s already happened. It’s quite clear at this point that he is not allowed to die. And Lio has become adept at stopping himself from wanting what he can’t have.

Heris turns to him again suddenly, her eyes wide and nervous. “Lio,” she says, her voice tremulous and quiet. “Listen to me, I—”

But she doesn’t manage to get out whatever she’s going to say, because the door swings open and Lio’s master enters the room, his eyes landing immediately on his pet. Lio’s breath quickens, his heart speeding up in his chest. Instinctively he makes an attempt to sit up, but he’s still too weak, and lets out a quiet whimper as he falls back against the pillow.

Kray is at his side in an instant, cradling his head, running fingers through his hair. “Shh, it’s all right, pet,” he says softly. “It’s all right. I’m here.”

Lio goes limp against his hands, letting himself be stroked and caressed. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, because it seems to be the right thing to say, and maybe he _is_ sorry, because tears are suddenly welling in his eyes. He lets them fall, lets his master wipe them away from his cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Kray breathes into Lio’s hair, holding him as best as he can despite the back brace and restraint straps and IV line in his way. “I forgive you. You’re here with me now, and you’re never going to leave me again. My Lio.”

Lio closes his eyes, nuzzles his face into his master’s broad chest, breathing in the warmth. Maybe he’s not going to be punished after all; Kray has never forgiven him anything before. It’s a small thing, and yet he’s pathetically grateful for it.

Kray says nothing more for a long moment, and neither of them move, Lio relaxing completely into his master’s gentle embrace and letting his eyes close.

It takes another week after he regains consciousness for him to be released from the medical bay, which is the longest Lio has ever spent undergoing any kind of medical treatment. He doesn’t see Heris often; she’s apparently consulting on his treatment, due to her familiarity with Burnish regeneration. She tries to meet his eyes, more often than anyone else, but she rarely speaks to him; they’re rarely alone anyway, as Kray has what seems like a whole hospital’s worth of specialists checking on him every hour of the day. Kray himself visits frequently, sometimes just sitting and quietly working on something in a corner of the room as the doctors work with Lio. Under careful observation they let him free of the restraints to stand, to limp slowly around his hospital room and build up the strength in his legs again. Something in his hip hasn’t quite healed yet, and the twinge of pain makes him stumble until he gets used to it. He loses count of the times he would have fallen if he wasn’t being supported by crutches, or a nurse’s arm, or Kray’s.

He still limps, just a little, when they finally let him out of the medical bay. At least he’s able to kneel without pain, which he does when his master directs him before they leave. He lifts his head to bare his throat, and Kray fastens his collar around his neck, tight enough that it’s nearly flush to his skin but not enough to hinder his breathing. The familiar, slight pressure is… good. It feels like a piece of himself just clicked back into place, a piece he didn’t even notice was missing until it was returned.

“Thank you, master,” he whispers, and Kray beams down at him. He snaps a leash to Lio’s collar and twitches it upward, extends a hand to help him stand. Lio tries not to lean on him too heavily, but he can’t help it. Fortunately, his master doesn’t seem to mind.

Kray bends down to kiss Lio’s forehead and ruffles his hair. “Let’s get you back where you belong,” he says gently, and turns to leave. Lio folds his arms behind his back, the posture still natural as breathing, and follows.

**Author's Note:**

> don't hurt me. (:
> 
> as always feel free to come yell at me on twitter, @BurningLio


End file.
